UPRI, CCC, and Iloilo Provincial Gov’t push for Iloilo as CCA hub

Iloilo City – As Project ReBUILD (Resilience Capacity Building for Cities and Municipalities and Natural Hazards) came into completion in its first phase, the Climate Change Commission (CCC), Provincial Government of Iloilo, and the University of the Philippines’ Resilience Institute (UPRI) held a culminating activity of the project last 24 April 2018 at Casa Real in Iloilo City.

Participants were representatives, officials, and officers of various local government units (LGUs) of Iloilo, line agencies, planning associations, higher education institutions (HEIs), and non-government organisations (NGOs). The event was not only for showcasing the successes of the project; it was also for forging new partnerships and strengthening the role of the Iloilo as a provincial hub for climate change adaptation (CCA).

During the event, UPRI showcased its Geospatial Analytics National Platform (GANaP), a web-based repository of exposure, sensitivity, adaptive capacity, vulnerability and risk level data of its partner communities in Iloilo– namely Dumangas, Passi, and Zarraga. The uploaded series of data serve as reference and may be utilized by the local partners to monitor their municipality’s risks and vulnerabilities. It is also relevant to their climate change vulnerability assessment (CCVAs) and disaster risk assessment (DRAs).

In the future, it is aspired that GANaP will be available to the rest of the Philippine cities and municipalities whose community leaders wish to conduct their climate and disaster risk assessments (CDRA), and participate in probabilistic analysis of relevant vulnerabilities and risks.

In addition, an exhibit was also put up to present the experiences of the local partners in Iloilo. The exhibit included posters and maps that were produced during the project.

The event concluded with new and renewed support as evident in the pledges that were signed by various stakeholders including Iloilo municipal mayors and representatives of Line Agencies (LAs), the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), and non-government organisations (NGOs).